The former St Mark's Church, Old Leeds Road, Huddersfield, was an Anglican parish church in West Yorkshire, England. It was previously known as St Mark's, Leeds Road, before the road name was changed. ("Leeds Road" differentiates this building from St. Mark the Evangelist, Longwood, Huddersfield.) This building was designed in 1886 by William Swinden Barber when the parish of St Peter's was split and a new building was required to accommodate a growing congregation. It was opened in 1887. Among the vicars posted in this benefice were the very popular Canon Percy Holbrook, the notoriously unfortunate Reverend Jonas Pilling who was involved in a standoff with his congregation for many years, the sociable Reverend Robert Alfred Humble who died in mysterious circumstances, and the eloquent preacher Reverend Joseph Miller, who had previously been a Congregational minister. The building was sold by the Church of England in 2001, and it has been converted into a block of offices.
Foundation stone ceremony
The corner stone was laid in the afternoon of Saturday 15 May 1886. There had been bad weather during the previous week, and the ceremony was performed before a "considerable" crowd under a large tent in a high wind, although the rain had abated. The silver trowel had an ivory handle and a Morocco case lined with silk. The blade was engraved thus: "Presented to Mrs William Brooke, on the occasion of her laying the foundation stone of St Mark's Church, Leeds-Road, Huddersfield, Saturday May 15th, 1886, by W. Swinden Barber, architect, James W. Bardsley, vicar of Huddersfield and chairman of the Building Committee; Edward Armitage, treasurer; and George Fisher, secretary." The mallet "was made of polished rosewood, and was beautifully finished. Round the top of the head a suitable inscription was engraved on two circles of silver." These circles were engraved, "Presented by William Henry Jessop to Mrs William Brooks, Northgate Mount, May 15th, 1886," and "St Mark's Church, Huddersfield." Chief among those present at the ceremony were Mr William Brooke JP, and his wife. Heading the list of surpliced clerics were the Reverends J. Wareing Bardsley MA vicar and Rural Dean of Huddersfield, and John Dunbar, vicar-designate of St Mark's, and the choir led by Mr Fowles. They were accompanied by sixteen other clerics, plus J.F. Richards, headmaster of Huddersfield College, three justices of the peace, a number of local personages and the building contractors. Last on the list was T.H. Farrar, managing clerk for the architect who was not present on that day.
The hymn, This stone to thee in faith we lay, was sung, and in his sermon Rev. J.W. Bardsley spoke about the way in which the mass movement of people to cities had had a consequence in which "large numbers of the people of England had grown up in habits of non-attendance in the House of God," and this had caused the Church of England to split city parishes and build more churches. He said that in the 1881 Census the population of the Huddersfield parish was 9,201, and that number had increased greatly since the Census. Moreover, the Parish Church had only 500 free seats. This was the reason why the parish had been split, and St Mark's built as an extra church, on land given by Sir John Ramsden. He said that poorer people had "collected considerable sums of money by means of collecting cards." He told the parish congregation that they must raise sufficient funds for the remaining building work, and for an endowment as well. They then sang, Christ is our corner stone. The collection was £42 1s 1d. The treasurer Mr E. Armitage said that they had been promised subscriptions of about £4,800, but that they needed £6,000 to cover the endowment. They had incurred liabilities of around £4,000, and they needed another £1,200. They had received nearly £3,700 in hard cash, but they had had to buy out the leaseholder of the land that they'd been given. So the congregation was constrained, in an area of much poverty, to raise more funds.
A time capsule in the form of a bottle was placed in a cavity in the corner stone. It contained "copies of that day's Times, the local newspapers, current coins of the realm, and a copy of the description of the church, with the names of the architect and the contractors." The stone was then laid by Mrs Brooke, and the audience cheered. There were long speeches by G.L. Batley, F.W. Bradon, William Brooke, and Colonel Brooke. The event ended with the National Anthem and the Doxology, and – unusually for these events – no mention of a meal provided for guests.